Gifford minister asks Indian River County officials for help with recent violence | Photo gallery

ERIC HASERT/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS Images of the Indian River County Commission meeting where Gifford residents Rev. William Shelly, youth pastor at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and Gifford native Cynthia Spann discuss their concerns to the commissioners at the commission chambers about recent shootings and crowd activities in Gifford. (April 23, 2013)

Do you think people should be prohibited from gathering at this spot, where Gifford's young residents gather on holidays?

Do you or anyone you know gather here?

What kind of alternative activities should offered?

Ideas? Contact Zaimarie de Guzman at zaimarie.deguzman@scripps.com

GIFFORD — The Rev. William Shelly, recalling the Easter shootings near his 32nd Avenue home, Tuesday urged the Indian River County Commission to find out what's wrong in Gifford and diffuse the tension that too often results from large gatherings.

"I was sitting down, watching a basketball game, and my 16-year-old daughter ran into the room, saying, ‘Daddy, Daddy, what's happening?'" Shelly told commissioners. "I looked out and saw several people running for their lives as shots continued to be fired."

Sheriff's officials later tallied 49 shell casings, he said, and determined four people were injured by gunfire, in the vacant lot near Shelly's house. Hundreds of people had gathered there, west of the Smith Plaza Grocery in the 3200 block of 45th Street.

From March 30 to Wednesday, there have been five shooting incidents in Gifford, the most since a string of eight shootings over 16 days in early 2008 that left a boy dead on his doorsteps.

The Easter case remains under investigation. But Shelly said the county should focus on the causes of the tension and not just the results of it.

Shelly, youth minister with Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, said commissioners should start easing the woes by having department heads conduct a formal assessment of Gifford's unmet community needs.

Commission Chairman Joe Flescher said the county is trying to improve Gifford with more law enforcement, while local ministers and community leaders make their own groups aware of the problems.

"Not one of those groups can do it alone, but if we act together, we can get an element of a happy community back," he said. "We're on the move with this."

When there's a gathering, Gifford native Cynthia Spann said, the loud music fills the air with profanity she doesn't let her grandchildren say.

Spann said her family helped build Gifford into a nice community, but added such chaotic activities bring it down.

"It hurts to see our hard work go to waste," she said.

Shelly and Spann said the gatherings subject other residents to traffic congestion, obscene language, litter and alcohol-induced behavior.

"The gatherings are the stage, but somebody has to set the stage," Shelly said. "We're all guilty. There's enough blame to go around this room 100 times — myself included, for not speaking out before now."

Other agencies currently address Gifford, he said, such as the housing efforts by Every Dream Has a Price Inc. But they only deal with certain issues. Nobody tackles the community as a whole, he said.